Squatters ‘live in estate Wendy house’

The Regent’s Park estate Wendy house that gardeners say squatters have moved into

TOOLS worth hundreds of pounds have been stolen from a council estate allotment, according to members of a gardening club who say “squatters” have moved into a children’s Wendy house.

The Regent’s Park Gardening Association (RPGA) say their plots have been targeted in the crucial pre-Spring planting season and are hoping a kind benefactor will help them to replace the tools.

The allotments, by Munster Square, were set up five years ago to help bring tenants together at the Regent’s Park estate.

RPGC chairman Danny Gallivan, who came out in the rain on Tuesday to pose for a New Journal photograph, said: “It was fairly expensive stuff – strimmers, hacksaws and the forks thing. When we moved in there five years ago it was all rubbish everywhere, all overgrown, it was a neglected piece of land. It was set up so that the Bengali and British people would come out and use it together, and it’s worked pretty well. There are 28 plots and they’re all in use.

He added: “It’s a real shame because it’s the beginning of the planting season, too, it’s a really important time.”

At the back of the allotment are two sheds and a children’s playhouse that has had the locks broken off. The three sheds contained equipment and tools for gardening but were full of bags of clothes and mattresses when the New Journal visited on Tuesday.

Danny Gallivan at the Munster Square allotment

Somru Miah, the RPGA’s general secretary, said: “We are trying to deal with squatters who have occupied our children’s Wendy house and play area. “We have had reports that the squatters have been in confrontation with plot-holders who have no desire to continue working their plots until this matter is resolved.”

The RPGA has praised Camden Council for helping with advice.

A council statement added: “Our patrols and street presence officers are targeting the locality and will be checking the site, as well as speaking with residents in order to gather any new information.”